Loving You Is A Losing Game
by Arithese
Summary: Damian and Dick were kidnapped to hurt Bruce, and separated the moment they were rescued. Rated T for injuries. Day 7 of Dick and Dami week 2019; separation/reunion.


Last day already! *Sniff* As with all the other days, the title is part of the lyrics for Arcade, the Dutch entry for the Eurovision. My favourite part of the song actually.

Hope you enjoy the story!

* * *

February 13th, 2019. 22:13

It had stopped hurting some time ago. No.. that was a lie, it never stopped hurting, but after a while, neither of them knew how long, they had just become numb to it. They had allowed pain to wash over them, knowing there was no way to stop it, and instead just hoped, prayed, for someone to rescue them.

The cell was cold, and Dick watched with worried eyes how Damian's lips continuously turned bluer, the shivering started becoming more violent. _At least he was still shivering_.

"Grayson?" Damian's voice was weak, scratchy. Dick watches him take a deep shuddering breath, a painful one. They were both hurting. "Why hasn't father come to rescue us?" Dick glances down at the younger boy, sea blue eyes staring at the now dull green eyes of his younger brother.

_Green eye_. One of them was swollen shut because of the beating, his usual tan skin flushed from all the colour, and now looking sickly white.

"He is coming for us, they all are." Dick affirms, and he winces at the sentence. His throat hurt, it was dry as he'd given all of his water, or most of it, to Damian. He needed it more he had told himself, and Damian had been too out of it to stop him before he had drank majority of the water.

Dick didn't know if he could call it lucky that they were kidnapped as civilians. It meant not risking their identities, sure, and the police would be looking for the Wayne boys, something that was of course a priority, but it also meant that Batman had to be more careful about it becoming too suspicious.

He actually didn't care all that much right now, he just wanted Damian safe.

"I want to go home." Damian admitted after a short silence. A tear was squeezed from his eyes, and it slowly trailed down the side of his face. Dick hiccups slightly, teaching for Damian's hand and squeezing it softly.

"I know Dami, me too." He says softly. Damian whimpers, burying his face in Dick's side again. He didn't have to energy to move a lot anymore, neither did Dick. He could feel his muscles protesting, hurting him, at every movement, even simply squeezing his hand caused him pain.

_But that might also because they broke his hand_

He could feel Damian shake against him, but he didn't have the energy to do something about it. They were both hurting, and it was freezing in the room, at least, that's what it felt like. He didn't know how long it had been, or when their family was coming for them, he just knew it hurt.

Dick closed his eyes, allowing the infinite nothingness to take over.

* * *

February 13th, 2019. 23:26

"Batman!" The voice was filled with panic, and Damian could feel himself jolt awake, eye snapping open. The lights were still off, but the door was open, letting in more than enough light. "Dick's not responding, he's in bad shape." That was Drake's voice, he recognised his voice, mind a little clearer.

He lets out a whine, ignoring the pain slowly but steadily increasing, spreading through his entire body.

"Grayson." He gasps, rolling over to get his hands beneath his body. _Where was Grayson?_ He looks up, vision blurry but he could make out the figures of Red Robin and Batman, _too_ far away from him, crouching over the still body of his oldest brother. "Grayson!" His voice was raw, and he coughed violently.

"Bruce he's not breathing!" Tim yells, and Damian can feel nothing but panic in between the violent coughs.

"Damnit!" Bruce growls. "Hood, get Damian out of here, Red Robin get the-" Damian didn't hear the rest of the command. He could feel two arms wrap themselves around him from behind, pressing him against a broad chest.

"Just breathe Gremlin." Jason said in his ear, a tinge of concern, but Damian couldn't care less. Because Jason was standing up, dragging him away from Grayson.

"No." He rasps, stumbling as his ankle gave out. Jason stopped for a second but then he made a decision, picking Damian up completely. "Todd put me down! Grayson!" Damian didn't care that Jason was holding him like a toddler, chest pressed against his and his head cradled on top of Jason's shoulder.

He could only stare with wide eyes at the still unmoving body of his brother, and Jason forcing him to move away.

"Todd please, let me go." Damian sobbed, but pain was scorching his body from within, burning up his insides, and all his energy. He could feel tears trail down his face, and it almost felt like they were actually burning him. He just collapsed in Jason's hold, staring lifelessly at the retreating body.

"Please… Grayson please… I need to.. please Todd." Damian continued to whisper, and Jason could feel his stomach churn, but he carried on, following Bruce's orders. He knew he couldn't do anything for Dick right now, so he had to make sure that Damian was okay, because he could never forgive himself if Damian died on his watch.

So he continued to carry Damian away, separating him from Dick.

* * *

February 14th, 2019. 12:43

_He wasn't hurting_. That was the first thing Damian noticed when he slowly cracked his eyes open. He blinked a few times in surprise, frowning slightly as he noticed he could open both eyes again. HIs left eye was still swollen, but not swollen shut anymore.

"About time you woke up." Damian snaps his head to the right, eyes landing on the figure of his second oldest brother. Jason was sitting in a chair next to him, elbows resting on his knees and head resting on his hands. He wasn't even looking at him, instead a frown of worry on his face.

"How long?" Damian demands, and slowly, Jason drags his eyes upwards until they focus on Damian's.

"Took us 4 days to find ya." Jason mutters, leaning back. "You were out for 13 hours." He folds his arms over his chest, looking at Damian. The younger of the two was about to continue the conversation when he suddenly remembered something. His eyes went wide with panic.

"Grayson." He gasps, struggling to get up. Exhaustion seemed to hit him that moment, and he felt his arms tremble.

"Woah there gremlin." Jason retorts, pushing Damian back down without much problem..

"Unhand me Todd!" Damian hisses, trying to push his second oldest brother away but he lets out a hiss of pain, sinking into the bed again. He could feel his head hurting, eyes heavy and begging for him to shut them.

"I can feel your ribs grind against each other under my hand brat." Jason snapped, not letting his hand up before Damian truly went limp under him. Then slowly, he lets up, and Damian glares at him but doesn't try to get up.

"What happened?" Damian sneered, resisting the urge to rub his eyes.

"You got kidnapped, remember?" Jason said, and Damian scowls, he did remember. The most cliché thing happening, a white van, two guys jumping out and subduing them. They could've taken them, easily, but they weren't in costume, they were civilians right then, rich boys who couldn't defend themselves.

They had a grudge against Bruce, so they didn't want money, they wanted revenge. And the best way to hurt Bruce was to hurt his children.

"When we rescued you they already beat the crap out of you two."

"Grayson wasn't breathing." Damian says, voice desperate but much softer as before.

"Timbers fixed him, he'll be fine." Jason says, watching his younger brother like a hawk.

"Then why are we here?" Damian shoots back, and Jason chuckles dryly.

"They did a number on the both of ya kid, ya need your rest." Jason comments, and Damian scowls, but now completely falls back on the bed, eyes fluttering shut for a moment before he opened them again.

"I want to see him." Damian demands, and Jason shakes his head.

"What you need is a nap." Jason says, folding his arms in front of his chest.

"Don't patronise me, Todd." Damian glared, taking a shuddering breath. Jason watched him with a raised eyebrow, almost _daring_ him to do something. But Damian's body didn't seem to want to move, and Damian could feel his eyes grow heavier and heavier as more seconds passed.

He knew that Jason would, successfully, stop him should he try to get up again. So he didn't, instead he sent another glare towards his older brother before turning his head away from him. He tried to stay awake, waiting for the best moment to get up, but it never came, Jason didn't leave.

And before Damian knew it, he was out again.

* * *

February 14th, 2019. 14:13

It was silent the next time Damian opened his eyes again. He blinked a couple of times until the ceiling was clear above him, before he allowed his eyes to roam through the room. It was then that he noticed he was in his own room for the first time, the huge bed seemingly swallowing him up.

Damian sucked in a breath, feeling his ribs protest slightly.

_Grayson_. The name rung through his head, persistently nagging in his head. He took a deep breath again, carefully removing the blanket. He hisses as pain spreads through his body, and he couldn't even determine where it was coming from, _everything_ hurt, his ribs, his head, his arms, it hurt.

The room was empty except for him, Todd had probably left the moment he fell asleep again, or when he grew bored.

"Come on." Damian muttered to himself, forcing his legs over the edge of the bed. Most damage was done to his upper body, but that didn't mean he felt sure about how much weight his legs would be able to carry right now. A shiver ran through his body as he touched the floor with his bare feet.

He grunted, almost crashing to the ground as pain rushed through him, but he caught himself before he did so. He took a shuddering breath, pushing himself up and taking a hesitant step. Damian bit his lip, ignoring all the pain, and the exhaustion he felt crashing over him and walking to the door.

His limbs trembled as he opened the door, slipping into the hallway. He felt his legs buckle, and he knew what was going to happen before it actually happened, and he had no way of stopping it. His head swirled for a moment before he felt his legs give out under him and he crashed to the floor..

.. only to be caught by two strong arms.

"Damian." Came his father's worried voice. Damian grunted as Bruce lowers them both to the ground, shifting so Damian could look at him. His vision blurred slightly from the tears, but he stubbornly bit them back. "What are you doing out of bed?"

It was as if Damian suddenly remembered what he was doing out of bed, _Grayson_, and he squirmed in his father's hold.

"I need to get to Grayson." He said.

"Son, calm down." Bruce frowned, but Damian shook his head.

"I need to see him, Todd would not let me. I just need to know if he is alright." The last part was filled with so much desperation, and Bruce sighed.

"Okay I will take you to him." Bruce said, and Damian suddenly stopped, seizing his struggling to look up at his father.

"Please take me to him." He said, and Bruce nodded.

"Just hold still, you're still hurt." He said, and Damian huffed, but didn't protest as Bruce gently picked him up. The walk towards Grayson's room wasn't a long one, and yet, Damian doubted he would've made it if he had to walk it himself right now. He barely made it out of his room on his own.

Bruce carefully opened the door, carrying Damian in.

Damian squirmed uncomfortably in Bruce's hold, and the latter carefully put Damian down, supporting him the last few steps towards the bed. Damian froze just inches away from touching the bed.

"Is he going to be okay?" He asks softly, worried eyes watching his older brother. Bruce squeezed Damian's shoulder slightly but Damian didn't respond to it. He just wanted to know if Grayson would be alright. His father… a person he had always admired but Grayson was the one to raise him.

His father just came back from the dead, he wasn't more than his biological father yet.

"He broke a few bones, and he was dehydrated and undercooled, you both were. But he will be alright." Bruce says, and Damian climbs onto the bed, snuggling against the figure of his older brother.

"I am here, Grayson." Damian muttered, shifting a bit to get closer, pillowing his head on Grayson's shoulder. He didn't respond, didn't give any sign of waking up except for the muscles loosening slightly. As if they were tense with worry about _him_, because he didn't know if he was alright.

Bruce watched with fond eyes as Damian's eyelids started to fall again, even if he stubbornly tried to stay awake. He didn't say anything, and Damian didn't pay attention to him, almost as if he wasn't even in the room. Bruce ignored the slight pang he felt at the realisation but he remembered Dick's words.

_He needs time to trust you Bruce, be patient with him_.

So he stayed silent, watching over two of his sons until Damian succumbed to the exhaustion.

* * *

Technically separation/reunion…?


End file.
